UMUR "Through Aching Aeons" is the 5th full-length studio album by melodic Swedish death metal act Desultory. The album was released through Pulverised Records in June 2017. It´s the successor to "Counting Our Scars" from 2010 and features the same four-piece lineup who recorded the predecessor. In fact this lineup have been playing together since 1997, but under the Zebulon monicker from 1997-2008, after which they opted to change their band name back to Desultory (who originally disbanded in 1996). So "Through Aching Aeons" actually marks the 20 year anniversary for this lineup.

Desultory formed in 1989 and were pretty active in the early and mid-90s releasing three studio albums in the years between 1993 and 1996. Starting out playing melodic old school Swedish death metal and ending up playing a raw heavy rock/metal/death´n´roll style on "Swallow the Snake (1996)". They continued to play the latter style of music in Zebulon, but when they revived the Desultory name in 2009 they also opted for a musical change back to a melodic death metal sound. "Counting Our Scars (2010)" is a little more contemporary sounding with thrash and heavy grooves than the music style on their early albums, but still a sort of return to the roots album.

That musical direction is continued on "Through Aching Aeons", which is actually an even more "back to the roots" type album than "Counting Our Scars (2010)" was. Lead vocalist/guitarist Klas Morberg has returned to a more aggressive growling delivery (fully intelligible), and the guitar tone brings back memories of early 90s Sunlight Studio productions. Desultory manage to strike a good balance between old school melodic death metal ideas, and a couple of more contemporary musical ideas (thrash riffs and heavy grooves). "Through Aching Aeons" is overall pretty old school though. Desultory always mastered melancholic melodies and atmospheres while still bringing great rawness and power to their music, but on "Through Aching Aeons" you can add darkness to that equation, because this is a pitch black album.

Compared to their early releases there is less focus on soaring melodic guitar leads and harmonies (although they are still present in the music), and more focus on raw power (there are even some blastbeat sections on the album), heavy riffs (and faster thrashy riffs), aggression, and dark atmosphere (check out the intro and reoccuring cold melancholic guitar work on "Beneath the Bleeding Sky"). So upon conclusion "Through Aching Aeons" is what I had hoped "Counting Our Scars (2010)" would have been. The latter mentioned is also a good quality album, but "Through Aching Aeons" is in a whole other league. I hope it´s not too late for Desultory to finally get the recognition they deserve, because they are definitely one of those gems who deserve more attention, and "Through Aching Aeons" could be the album which brings them back on the map (or at least it should be). A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved).

UMUR "Swallow the Snake" is the 3rd full-length studio album by Swedish death metal/death´n´roll act Desultory. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in October 1996 (the third album in a three album deal with the label). It´s the successor to "Bitterness" from 1994. A major lineup change has taken place since "Bitterness (1994)" as lead guitarist Stefan Pöge has jumped ship. Desultory opted to continue as a three-piece, and bassist Håkan Morberg has taken on the lead guitar duties on "Swallow the Snake" in addition to his role as bassist.

Using the words "major lineup change" when only one out of four members has left is justified because of the significance of Pöge´s lead guitar playing on the first two albums by Desultory and how much his departure meant for how "Swallow the Snake" turned out. Desultory already started incorporating traditional heavy metal/heavy rock elements to their sound on "Bitterness (1994)", which placed that album somewhere between a melodic old school death metal sound and a death´n´roll sound, but with an emphasis on the former. The scale has shifted on "Swallow the Snake" though which is through and through a death´n´roll album. Although the music still features occasional melodic leads, they are not nearly as interesting as the melancholic soaring leads and harmonies Desultory played on the first two albums. So Pöge´s exit from the band has definitely had a significant impact. The music now features a groove laden heavy rock/death´n´roll sound, which is pretty far removed from the melodic tinged death metal of the band´s previous releases. If anyone thought "Swansong (1996)" was a step too far down the death´n´roll path for Carcass, this is a similar situation, but with the difference that "Swallow the Snake" could have been recorded by a completely different act, as there is next to nothing on the album which links it to Desultory´s past.

Heavy groove laden hard/heavy rock riffs, blues rock influenced leads, a hard rocking rhythm sections, and lead vocalist/guitarist Klas Morberg raw shouting vocals on top. The vocals may be aggressive and angry, but there is not a single growling vocal part on the album, and labelling this album death´n´roll is maybe a bit of a stretch. Raw heavy rock/metal is probably a better description. "Swallow the Snake" features a raw and organic sounding production, which suits the rawness of the music well, and upon conclusion "Swallow the Snake" is a decent quality release. If the songs had stood out a bit more and had been memorable beyond the album´s playing time, it would have been a completely different situation though. "Beneath" is one of the standout tracks on the album featuring a dark goth rock atmosphere and deep register vocals, but the remaining tracks simply sound too much the same. It´s nothing out of the ordinary for the style and compared to what came before, it´s a huge disappointment. Desultory disbanded shortly after the release of the album, but continued as Zebulon in the period 1997 - 2008, releasing two studio albums under the Zebulon monicker before changing the band name back to Desultory in 2009. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Bitterness" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Desultory. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in June 1994 (the second album in a three album deal with the label). It´s the successor to "Into Eternity" from 1993.

Stylistically the material on "Bitterness" continue the melodic old school Swedish death metal style of "Into Eternity (1993)", but Desultory have not stagnated and released a clone of their debut album by any means. They have instead embraced a little of the death´n´roll tendencies of other contemporary Scandinavian artists/releases (artists like Furbowl, Cemetary, and Sentenced), although they don´t go overboard with those elements on this release. Let´s call it a spice on "Bitterness". Lead vocalist/guitarist Klas Morberg has changed his singing style quite a bit from his earlier aggressive growling to a shouting semi-growling vocal style (not completely different from the vocal style of Johan Liiva of Arch Enemy/Furbowl/Hearse). He changes his vocals a bit during the album though, and he has a more growling type vocal delivery on some tracks and the before mentioned shouting type delivery on other tracks. The foundation of the tracks are heavy riffs, soaring melodic leads and solos, a tight and organic sounding rhythm section, and the above mentioned vocals. While every member of the band contributes greatly to the sound of the album, it´s the many melodic leads, harmonies, and solos which to my ears stand out the most. The well composed and intriguing guitar melodies, should not only appeal to fans of melodic tinged death metal but also fans of traditional heavy metal/heavy rock.

"Bitterness" features a powerful, heavy, and detailed sound production, which suits the material perfectly. Desultory are also a very well playing band, and upon conclusion "Bitterness" is through and through a high quality death metal release. While "Into Eternity (1993)" certainly is a very strong album too, I still think "Bitterness" is just a notch more interesting, which is in large part due to it being more varied. I enjoy how they manage to incorporate traditional heavy metal/heavy rock and hard rock elements to their sound, but the outcome is still brutal and heavy enough to the called death metal. Or maybe the right description would be that they hit the right balance between their death metal roots and the new influences. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Into Eternity" is the debut full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Desultory. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in February 1993 (the first album in a three album deal with the label). Desultory formed in 1989 and released the "From Beyond" demo in June 1990. The "Death Unfolds" demo followed in February 1991 and the "Visions" demo in January 1992. Finally the "Forever Gone" EP was released in November 1992. The latter is a compilation of the tracks from the "Death Unfolds (1991)" demo and the "Visions (1992)" demo. Five out of the six tracks featured on "Forever Gone" appear on "Into Eternity (1993)" in re-recorded versions.

So if you already have either the demos or the "Forever Gone (1992)" compilation EP, there are actually only four new original tracks on "Into Eternity". Of course the older material appear here in re-recorded versions and "Into Eternity" is a consistent release both in terms of quality and style. In that respect you won´t notice that some tracks were written before others and the high quality of the tracks from the demos also fully warrant their inclusion here.

Stylistically the material on "Into Eternity" is melodic old school Swedish death metal (not melodeath of the Gothenburg school). The tracks are drenched in a dark and melancholic atmosphere and the lyrics deal with emotional problems/depression and sorrow. The tracks are predominantly fast-paced and energetic (no blasting) and there is a nice heavy groove in the music too. The rhythm section play raw and organic, complimented by the heavy downtuned riffs and faster tremolo ditto, while Lead vocalist/guitarist Klas Morberg sings his raspy snarling growling vocals. If I have to mention a highlight in the music though it would be lead guitarist Stefan Pöge´s dark melodic leads. They are the icing on the cake and often elevate the tracks from good to great.

"Into Eternity" features a raw, dark, and heavy sound production, which suits the material perfectly. It´s obvious that Desultory was on to something special with "Into Eternity". They had intriguing songwriting, a well sounding production, and the skills to execute their musical vision, and the outcome is a high quality old school Swedish death metal album in the melodic end of the spectrum. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Forever Gone" is an EP release by Swedish death metal act Desultory. The EP was released through House of Kicks in November 1992. It´s the band´s first label release and it compiles the material from their second and third demos "Death Unfolds (1991)" and "Visions (1992)". So those who own the demos won´t find anything new here. The material from both demos were professionally recorded at Sunlight Studio with Tomas Skogsberg.

Desultory formed in 1989 and released the "From Beyond" demo in June 1990. The three demos and the "Forever Gone (1992)" EP helped Desultory secure a three-album deal with Metal Blade Records. The band released their debut full-length studio album "Into Eternity" in February 1993. Five out of the six tracks featured on "Forever Gone" appear on "Into Eternity (1993)" in re-recorded versions.

The material from the two demos appear on "Forever Gone" in reverse chronological order with the three tracks from "Visions (1992)" appearing first on the tracklist followed by the three older tracks from the "Death Unfolds (1991)" demo. While the older tracks are slightly more raw and likewise the sound production, "Forever Gone" is actually a very consistent release both in terms of sound and quality. And we are dealing with a release of a high quality. Desultory play a melodic old school Swedish death metal style, that was quite unique for the time. In some ways and especially in terms of the dark and melancholic atmosphere of their music, they had more in common with contemporary Paradise Lost and Amorphis, than they had to fellow Swedish acts like Entombed and Dismember, although Desultory had a little of both worlds in their music and predominantly play faster and more energetic death metal than the two former mentioned acts.

"Forever Gone" shows a band who had already moved way past the demo stage while they were still recording and releasing demo material. It seems almost unreal to me, that the materal featured on "Forever Gone" are demo material as all tracks feature a professional studio recording quality and the idea to compile the material from the two demos on "Forever Gone" was definitely a smart move. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.